"Today you saw an outstanding major league pitcher," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after a 1-1, 11-inning tie. "It's what he should be most of the time.

"He got into a great rhythm and had great concentration. He was in sync 99.9 percent of the time, was down in the zone with strike one and had the best curveball. We were talking in the dugout about how it was better than what he had all last year."

In 2008, Verlander was 11-17 with a 4.84 ERA. He never found the consistency he displayed in going 17-9 and 18-6 his first two seasons in the majors.

Even when Verlander did have his good stuff, he was haunted by high pitch counts last season. Just getting to the seventh inning became a rarity. But he needed only 68 pitches to cover six innings and likely would have gone nine innings against the Astros if not for the 75-pitch limit Detroit's starters have at this point in spring training.

"I was pleased with my velocity," Verlander said. "I was 95 to 96 (mph) with runners on base and a lot better than this time last year."

Verlander had two strikeouts and three walks and allowed his only run by walking Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee to start the fourth.